You're a wizard, tarnished.
Elden Ring is a spectacular game, and represents the pinnacle of FromSoftware design. Indeed, it may in fact be one of, if not the best Xbox game of all time. In Elden Ring, you can play practically any kind of class you want. Be a warrior that uses fire magic. Be a holy-healing Paladin. Or a swashbuckling battle-wizard with a rapier and high mobility. Sure, you'll need to specialize a bit to ensure you're not spreading yourself too thinly, but there's nothing stopping you from building a heavy warrior that also has magical capabilities on the side.
To that end, if you're interested in the Intellect-based sorcery magic playstyle, you're going to need a staff. All sorceries in Elden Ring are cast using a staff either in your main hand or offhand and are obtained from vendors, boss rewards, or items found in the field.
Here are our top picks for sorcery staves in Elden Ring. There is a fairly large number of them in the game, but these are the ones you should gun for above all others.
Elden Ring: Best staffs for sorcery players
Sorcery is a complicated business in Elden Ring, but is also one of the most powerful playstyles you can get into. Fighting at range is a really potent strategy to take against many bosses, and while you may be a little squishier than a heavy close-range melee fighter, your chance of being hit in the first place is arguably reduced. It's also a tremendously versatile combat style for horseback combat, which many bosses revolve around.
We have a full guide to beginner Astrologer and Prisoner sorcery play over here, but if you're already getting deeper into the game, you may be wondering exactly where the best staffs are for your magical playthrough of Elden Ring.
Best starter staff: Meteorite Staff
The Meteorite Staff is 100% the first thing you should grab as a new sorcerer player. Getting it is fairly easy once you have your horse, and we actually have a full guide on how to get the Meteorite Staff right here.
The Meteorite Staff is found in a chest in the middle of Caelid, and the guide above will make it easy to grab. It cannot be upgraded, which is essentially a hint that it's designed to be a starting weapon rather than a mid-game option. The starting staff Astrologers get at the beginning of the game will in fact outperform the Meteorite Staff once higher-level Smithing Stones become available, but by then, you'll likely have moved onto one of the other staffs listed below.
The Meteorite Staff enhances gravity-based magic, such as the powerful Rock Sling spell, which is found in the same area (detailed in the above guide).
Best casting speed: Azur's Glintstone Staff
Azur's Glintstone Staff is another option for those who find the casting speed on certain spells to be a bit sluggish. While Azur's doesn't scale as hard as the Carian Regal Scepter, it does make your spells cast slightly faster, and it seems to stack with Dexterity and Talismans that produce the same effect.
For slow-casting spells like Comet, Azur's Glintstone Staff might be a potent option, especially for those investing a lot of points into Mind for extra FP. Indeed, the trade-off is that it drains more FP to cast spells. It also carries a fairly large requirement, at 52 Intellect.
Azur's Glintstone Staff is found in Reya Lucaria's Academy, although its location is a bit hard to describe. It's found in the Church of the Cuckoo area, which requires a bit of rooftop platforming to access. If you're in the Reya Lucaria Academy for the first time, the idea is to head left out of the debate room after fighting Radagon's doggo boss. Be prepared to fight a lot of enchanted soldiers and angry wizards. Up the stairs to the left, and across the rooftops, you'll eventually come across a church-like building. Inside there is an arched pathway to the eastern side of the building, on the upper level. This archway is guarded by a nasty soldier armed with a repeating fire-arrow crossbow, and should not be underestimated. Kill him, and inside is a crystalline structure and composite stone masks that contains the staff.
I have experimented with this staff, but I don't feel like it's worth the trade-offs over other options. If you're playing an Int/Dex build, the fact it stacks with the faster casting speed afforded by higher Dex scaling may make it worth it for you.
Best raw damage: Lusat's Glintstone Staff
Lusat's Glintstone Staff will make your spells hit harder than any other staff. The downside is, again, that it drains more FP for the privilege. If your only concern is doing the most damage with your sorceries as possible, this is definitely the staff for you. It also has a lower Intellect requirement than the Carian Regal Scepter, at 52 Int.
Getting the staff is relatively straightforward. To the eastern side of the poisoned red lake in the middle of Caelid is the ruins of Selia, a town of sorcerers. Full of angry wizard ghosts, you need to platform around the towers and light a few braziers to open various doors around the small town. Once you've lit all three, a boss area will unlock in the northeast side of the area, on the edge of the lake. Inside is the Nox Swordstress and Nox Priest duo boss battle. It's fairly easy, given that both have relatively low HP and you can easily guard counter most of the Swordstress' attacks with a modest shield equipped with Barricade. Throwing a summon into the arena will also ensure one of the bosses remains busy while you deal with the other.
Lusat's Glintstone Staff is in a chest at the back of the arena, awaiting your arrival.
Best overall: Carian Regal Scepter
The Carian Regal Staff doesn't have the highest scaling in the game, but it does have a very potent weapon art, and doesn't come with an additional FP requirement. Arguably, this is the best general-purpose staff in the game. Getting it is fairly straightforward, but it requires an enormous 60 Intellect requirement, which can be a bit tough to get in the early and even mid-game.
You get the Carian Regal Scepter as a reward for defeating Rennala, the final boss of the Reya Lucaria Academy, in the second area of the game, Liurnia of the Lakes. When Rennala dies, she drops her remembrance, which is an item you can hand in to the Two Fingers priestess Enia to unlock the staff. You can duplicate the remembrance to get Rennala's other reward, a hard-hitting Moon AoE, using one of the walking castles.
As noted, the Carian Regal Scepter also has a very powerful weapon art, which is an enhanced version of the spell "Spinning Weapon." It hits surprisingly hard and causes poise damage to enemies with low armor, easily staggering them repeatedly. This weapon art is often cited as a strategy for defeating Malenia for sorcery-oriented players. However, if you're not the sort of sorcerer who feels comfortable in melee range, it might not be worth it for that alone.
The Carian Regal Scepter also enhances "Moon" spells. Only Rennala's Full Moon and Ranni's Dark Moon seem to be affected by this spell as of writing, enhancing their damage.
This is my current go-to staff in the mid-game, but there are other staves worth considering, too.
Dark fantasy
Elden Ring
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A masterpiece
Elden Ring is a staggering achievement, and gives you an enormous degree of freedom over your playstyle. Be a warrior wizard, or healing wizard, or a wizard wizard. The choice is yours!